Problems cutting and all out of ideas

I have used my Silhoutte for some time now and always had a problem with cutting through cardstock or anything thicker than copy paper, usually I get there in the end but today is proving frustrating.

Today I wanted to cut something out of Cardstock and I have wasted three bits so far, first bit was just leaving everything as machine said - cardstock - plain, 4 on the blade, 20 on the pressure cut didn't even mark the back of the card so obviously not cut, couldn't get the job to cancel on the machine and ended up turning it off and on again.

Second I adjusted the blade and the pressure up but still not cutting through, last one I changed the blade, pressure on 33 and cut on a 5, it has cut around 90% but I am left with a pair of scissors trying to get through the rest of it.

To be fair it wasn't even cutting through on the test cuts and by then I was up to selecting heavyweight cardstock, blade at 7 and pressure at 33.

What am I doing wrong?

Perhaps your blade is blunt/damaged.

Thats what I thought so the last time I changed the blade, still not completely cutting through only about 90%.

Have you tried double cut. I usually do cardstock on blade 4 pressure 30

Have you updated the firmware and/or software?

Hi. What Silhouette model are you using? What colour card -yes, it can make a difference as some card is very fibrous even though it may feel thin, black can be a mare? Is the card totally plain ( I can see you have chosen "cardstock plain" but could it be, for example, a lightly hammered card? Sometimes humidity can play a part, if in doubt can you waft it carefully with a heat gun before setting it up to cut? You said you have always had a problem, how old is your machine? It is often (but not always!) easier to troubleshoot software problems than peripherals because there are so many variables involved. Is your card from a well known source?

Hi

Two sorts of card the first time was Bazzill white with a slight texture, then I just used plain white with no texture. I am using version 4.1 which I updated to late last year but I have not noticed that this has made any difference.

I somehow got it into my head that the pressure would help but when I got up to 33 with the blade on a 7 and it was still not cutting all the way through I wondered if it was something else.

Okay, I cut Bazzil a lot and don't find too many problems, I also cut AC cardstock which is super to cut. I do always test cut (on the cut page click test (bottom right of the cut panel) and the machine will cut a little triangle in the corner of the card - apologies if you already know this - and you can see if it cuts through without wasting card). You could update to the latest stable software v 4.2.279 here: https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software , you could also check the packet size you are using - go to top right hand side of your Studio screen > edit > preferences > advanced and if your packet size is still the default auto (1000 bytes) change it to 500. You could also ring Graphtec and run the problem past their tech folk if nothing has helped, Graphtec are super helpful.

Andi

What model Cameo do you have ?

I too used to have cutting nightmares, especially, as Andi says, with black card. I moaned on here so often that Brian from Graphtec picked up on it and asked me to send card samples and my blades. When he looked at my blades under magnification they were all chipped, though I couldn't see the chips, caused by using too high settings. He advised me which settings to use and I haven't had a problem since. Definitely worth giving them a call or sending an email, I can't speak highly enough of the service they give. Good Luck.